Combined bathing trunks and supporter



Mafch Z, 1937.

D. RHEINAUER COMBINED BATHING TRUNK'S AND SUPPORTER 1 Filed Feb. 4, 1935 l fLAST/C PIA/7E0 l YARN.

ELASTIC Pill/TED WITH V/l/(N WIT H VAR/V INVENTOR Dame] Rhemauer A T RNEY Patented Mar. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINED BATHING TRUNKS AND SUPPORTER Application February 2 Claims.

This invention relates to trunks for bathing and other purposes of the type wherein an athletic supporter is incorporated into and made a part of the trunks.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a garment such as bathing trunks incorporating an athletic supporter knitted of the same material as the trunks itself, but elastic in all directions in the plane thereof. My invention further contemplates the provision of an athletic supporter knitted of the usual material customarily used in the garment of which the supporter forms a part, but interknitted with a concealed elastic thread to give the supporter the desired elasticity. My invention further contemplates the provision of a pair of trunks provided with an athletic supporter which does not obtrude itself upon the purchaser or wearer, but which appears to be an integral and unobtrusive part of the garment, yet is so made as to adequately perform its function. The material used in said supporter can be knitted in a continuous strip in one operation and this strip can then be cut into the necessary lengths to form the supporters of the present invention. The stitching used in the knitting operation is such that the supporter will have an elasticity and fullness which accommodates itself automatically to the contour of the body parts of the wearer intended to be supported, and yet has sufficient strength and resistance to serve as an adequate support.

While in the bathing trunks of the present invention, the main portion of the supporter is knitted of the same material as the trunks itself, nevertheless, the outer edges of the supporter, which are knitted integrally with the main portion, include elastic threads which give the marginal portions of the supporter elasticity and sufficient strength to hold them firmly against the body parts. The elastic thread is so knitted into the material that it is completely covered and concealed by a plating yarn, similar to that in the remainder of the bathing trunks.

The various objects of my invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention, as it appears embodied in a pair of bathing trunks,

, and partially broken away to expose the ath- 50 letic supporter.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same showing the inside surface of the supporter, the rear portion of the trunks being cut away to expose the supporter to view.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an exaggerated 4, 1935, Serial No. 4,748

scale of the knit fabric of the supporter, showing the stitching thereof.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, partially diagrammatic of the supporter fabric.

In the practical embodiment of my invention which I have illustrated herein by way of example, the bathing trunks Ill, knitted in the usual manner with worsted or other suitable yarn is conventionally made with a front portion H, a rear portion l2 sewed to the front portion along two side seams, a waist band l3 sewed to the upper edges of the front and rear portions, and a crotch piece l4 connecting the front and rear portions to form the crotch. The crotch piece tapers from its center toward the front and back in a well-known manner. The waist-band I3 is stitched to the upper edge of the front portion ll by suitable stitching I5.

'I'h'e knitted athletic supporter I6 is fixed to the interior of the trunks at its upper edge I! by inserting the upper edge I! of the supporter between the adjacent edges of the front portion II and the waist-band l3, midway between the side seams before the stitching I5 is completed.- The stitching l5 secures said edge l! in place. The lower end l8 of the supporter I6 is shaped to conform to the shape of the crotch l4 being preferably tapered and extending toward the rear portion l2 of the bathing trunk. The outermost edges of the tapered portion of the supporter I6 is inserted between the edges of the crotch l4 and the rear portion l2, all of said edges being simultaneously secured in place by the stitching IS. The total length of the supporter i6 is greater than the vertical distance between the edge I! and the crotch l4 and it therefore assumes a curved shape conforming to the shape of the body parts to be supported. The supporter is normally arranged in spaced relation to the front portion ll except at its secured parts and is provided consequently with a longitudinal fullmess.

The supporter strip I6 is knitted continuously on a straight knitting machine so that the strip coming from the machine can be cut to suitable lengths for use as the supporter l6. While the strip comprises three integral sections, namely, a center section loosely knitted of the same yarn as that of the remainder of the trunks and two outer or edge portions knitted of an elastic thread and a plaiting thread also of the same yarn,the entire strip is knitted by the machine in one operation.

The center portion is soft and elastic, and when the knitting of the strip is completed, said portion is pufied out or fulled. This efiect is obtained by keeping taut and thereby slightly stretching the elastic thread in the two edge portions during the knitting operation. When the side portions are released to their normal positions, the central body portion is given the desired fullness.

It will be seen that the athletic supporter l6 made from the continuous one-piece knitted strip above described, comprises a comparatively wide center or main body portion and two comparatively narrow side or edge portions 2| knitted integrally with and along the longer edges of the portion 20.

A vertical cut 22 is made on the center line of the portion 20 and extends upwardly of the strip approximately a third of the distance from the bottom thereof. The marginal part of the material adjacent the cut 22 is hemmed, or folded under on itself, the fold or hemming being greatest in width at the lower end of the out 22 and least at its upper end, thereby providing the greatest strength at the point where the stress on the supporter is greatest. The thus folded edges adjacent the cut 22 are secured together in any suitable manner as by means of a blind overcast stitch 23 to within a short distance from the bottom portion thereof. The edge portions of the lower end I8 of the supporter are thereby drawn together, and provided with an excess of material at the center portion 20 serving to form a pocket which provides a lateral fullness in the supporter. The lower edge of one of the side portions 2| is folded over the lower edge of the other side portion, causing the bottom portion of the supporter to taper and conform in shape to the crotch 4.

The unsecured parts 24 of the material of the center portion 20 adjacent the cut 22 are folded across the opposite edge portion 2| and secured in the seam l9, thereby permitting the formation of a fold without the accumulation of surplus material at this point.

The center or main body portion 20 is knitted of a single thread of yarn 25 (Fig. 3) in a suitable stitch which tends to give the material elasticity in all directions, such as a Jersey stitch 26. The side portions 2| are knitted integrally with the main body portion 23 preferably, though not necessarily, with a rib stitch 28. The side portions 2| are knitted with a double thread 29 comprising the yarn 25, used in the main body portion 20, and an elastic thread 21 (shaded in the drawing) comprising an elastic center, of rubber or the like, covered with fabric, the yarn 25 serving as a plating, covering and concealing thread for the thread 21. As shown in detail in Fig. 3, a double row of loops, as 30, 3|, 32, 33 is formed in the side portions 2| as by means of two sets of needles. The elastic thread 21 is maintained at all times on the inside of said loops so that it is plated with the yarn 25, thus effectively concealing it.

In the following description of the knitting operation, the formation of the next lower row of loops from the top of Fig. 3 will be described and then the formation of the upper row. The yarn 25 is formed into a series of adjacent loops as 34, 35, 36, 31 forming part of the center or main body portion 20. At a predetermined point along the row of loops as at 38, the yarn 25 picks up the elastic thread 21 to form the double thread 29.

Said double thread, by means of the number of needles used in knitting the peripheral edge portions 2| is looped to form'a front set of loops and a rear set of loops, the elastic thread 21 being maintained at all times, however, inside of the plating thread 25. Both of the threads 25 and 21, comprising the thread 23, as they emerge from the loop 31, are looped as a unit first to form the loop 39. The right bottom end of said loop 39 as viewed in Fig. 3 is then carried back to the rear face of the fabric and again looped to form the rear loop 4|. The right bottom end of the thread comprising said loop 4| is then brought forwardly and across, and again looped to form the front loop 43. Similarly to the formation of the loop 4|, the right bottom end of the thread forming the loop 40 is carried rearwardly to form the left side of the rear loop 32 and so on throughout the entire row until the required width of the peripheral or edge portion 2| is attained.

To start another row, the selvage forming portion 50 of the thread 29 is passed rearwardly through the previously formed loop 42 and formed into the loop 3|. The thread running from the lower left side of the loop 3| is passed back through the loop 42 and through the previously formed loop 46 and shaped into the loop 32, entering said loop 32 at the lower right. The lower left side of the loop 32 is now passed back through the loop 40 and diagonally across through the previously formed loop 4| and shaped into the loop 30. Similar to the formation of the loop front 32, the thread running from the lower left side of the rear loop is passed back through the rear loop 4|, through the previously formed front loop 39 of the lower row and shaped into the front loop 33 beginning said loop at the lower right. At this point 41, the elastic thread 21 is dropped from the double thread 29, the yarn 25 now continuing as a single thread. The yarn 25 is now looped successively through the previously formed row of loops 31, 36, and 34 to form the new upper row of loops 46, 45, 44 and 43 in the usual manner.

It will be seen from the above that the yarn 5 is first knitted to form one of the side portions 2| at each peripheral edge of the main body portion, being used as a plating thread for the elastic thread 21, then by dropping the elastic thread to form the main body portion 20, then again combining with the elastic thread 21 to form the other peripheral edge 2| in a continuous operation.

During this operation, the elastic thread 21 is maintained taut and thereby slightly stretched so that, in contracting to its normal position after the completion of the knitting operation, the side portions 2| will tend to give the main body portion 20 a fullness, which is accentuated by the structure at the tapered end |8, without causing wrinkles. The main body portion 20 is fulled out and adapted toyield to the shape of the wearers body, but has sufiicient strength to serve as a support. The edge portions 2|, because of the elastic thread therein, may stretch to a greater extent than the main body portion 20, but are more resistant to stretching than said main body portion, and yieldingly but firmly hold the supporter Hi to the contour of the wearers body.

By the use of the one-piece knitted supporter described herein, it can readily be seen that my invention overcomes many of the objections inherent in bathing trunks.

The supporter is knitted of the same soft material as the remainder of the garment with a type of stitch that gives it a natural elasticity in all directions, transverse, diagonal and longitudinal, and the elastic thread incorporated therein tends to hold it firmly to the contour of the body. No obvious athletic supporter is glaringly displayed, while the proper comfortable supporting effect is adequately attained whereby my invention is designed to meet the requirements of practical use.

While I have shown and described an efiicient and practical embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto as it will be obvious that various changes therein and various other uses thereof will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, but I intend to claim this invention as broadly as may be permitted by the terms of the claims herein and the state of the prior art.

I claim:

1. In combination with a pair of knitted bathing trunks having a closed front portion, a rear portion, side seams joining said portions together, a waist band portion secured to the upper edges of the front and rear portions, and a crotch piece, a knitted supporter elastic in all directions in the plane thereof, and arranged centrally and longitudinally of the front portion and coextensive with the middle part thereof, said supporter comprising a length of continuously knitted material out into a rectangular strip, the upper edge of said strip being straight and the lower edge portion being tapered, said straight upper edge being sewn into a seam between the front and waist band portions, and said lower tapered edge being sewn into a seam between the crotch piece and said rear portion.

2. In combination with a pair of knitted trunks having a waist band and a crotch, a onepiece knitted supporter comprising a knitted main body portion and side portions integrally knitted with and at each respective longitudinal edge of the body portion, said side portions comprising a knitted double thread, one of which is elastic and'the other of which is a plating thread of the same yarn as that of the main body portion to cover and conceal the elastic thread, said main body portion being fulled out to form a pocket, yieldable and elastic, but of sufficient strength to serve as an adequate support and conforming to the contour of the body, and said side portions being stretchable to a greater extent than'the main body portion but offering greater resistance to stretching, and holding the supporter firmly to the contour of the wearer's body, said supporter being normally of greater length than the vertical distance between the waist band and the crotch and of less length than that of the trunks between the waist band and the crotch, and stitching for attaching the respective ends of said supporter to the interior portion of said trunks at said waist band and crotch.

DANIEL RHEINAUER. 

